Family: Reuniting With Missing Dog Is The 'Best Gift'

As Jean Burton can attest, the best Christmas presents don't always come down the chimney.

Sometimes, they walk on bloody paws through the garage door.

Burton took solace in her Christmas Eve, knowing that she helped return a dog to a Florida family after the animal was ejected early Dec. 19 from a car that overturned on Interstate 295 in eastern Henrico County.

"It's like a Christmas miracle," Burton said as relatives of the dog's owner drove from Pennsylvania to Richmond for the reunion.

Chloe, a 6-year-old golden retriever mix, apparently took off after the accident and found her way to Burton's house on LaFrance Road near I-295. Burton opened her garage door during the snowstorm to let her three dogs out. Chloe walked in, leaving bloody paw prints in the snow.

Burton took care of the dog for five days and nicknamed her Madame Butterfly. "She was so ladylike," and such a contrast to Burton's male dogs - Max, Rufus and Button - she said.

Burton was talking to a niece Wednesday night when the niece recalled news reports of last Saturday's accident and the lost dog. Within a few hours, relatives of Burton had contacted the family of Chloe's owner, Allison Labar. Photos and a numerical tattoo on the dog's thigh confirmed that she was Chloe. Yesterday, the animal was checked out at a local veterinarian's office and found to have a pulled tendon and other minor injuries.

"It's all things that will heal on their own," said Michelle Felmly, Labar's sister.

Labar, who suffered a broken clavicle and a dislocated shoulder in the accident and is now hospitalized with pneumonia in Pennsylvania, was overjoyed with the news that her dog had been found in good health. "She cried hysterically. She's still crying," Felmly said.

Felmly said her phone rang nonstop for four days with people in the Richmond area and as far away as Alabama and Minnesota offering assistance. She said the family was comforted by the gestures.

"All our Christmas stuff is put on hold," she said yesterday while en route to Richmond, "but this is the best gift we could possibly get."

Donna Gill, Burton's daughter, credited Chloe for picking such a loving home to seek refuge. "It was meant to be."